7th
December 2019
South
Nutfield Choral Society’s Christmas Concert at Christ Church, South Nutfield
was a most imaginatively programmed and enjoyable evening, ably directed as always
by Sue Hughes. It comprised seasonal choral works with lighter pieces including
a concluding medley of Christmas carols with enthusiastic audience
participation.
Faure’s
Requiem in D Minor with its underlying theme of eternal rest and comfort
sought by the composer following his father’s death is one of the most familiar
works in the choral repertory. Here the choir began with a steady progression
towards the eventual climax, always reflecting both tenderness and urgency with
well controlled and contrasted dynamics and feeling, rising to great expectancy
in Libera Me. Alex Jones impressed with his rich and well-focused
baritone voice in the Offertoire. Special mention should also be made of
the soprano Jenny Maddox, who sang Pie Jesu with affecting simplicity
and beauty.
This
was followed by the two songs by Peter Warlock, The First Mercy and Bethlehem
Down based on nativity stories which were sung with a vivid and imposing
sense of storytelling by Alex Jones. The first half of the evening ended with the
choir’s lively rendition of Henderson’s arrangement of the traditional Catalan
carol Fum, fum, fum.
The
second half opened with Michael Head’s charming work The Little Road to
Bethlehem in which the tenor David Brown sang with great sensitivity and
affection.
The
major work in this half was Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols and here the
chorus found their peak form. The affirmation of the opening Procession and
closing Recession, sense of mystery in the anonymous That Yongĕ Child,
the struggle prophesied in This little babe and the apt coldness of
In Freezing Winter Night were all ably suggested. The lively participation
of the soprano and mezzo soprano soloists in Spring Carol were also
moving and delightful.
Finally,
special mention should also be made of the alert and inspired organ and piano
accompaniment throughout of Tom Little in his final appearance with the choir
before taking up his new post at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.
1st December 2018
South
Nutfield Choral Society staged their annual Winter concert last Saturday 1st December in
Christ Church, South Nutfield.
The first
work performed was the much-loved Requiem by John Rutter which was sung with
great accuracy and commitment by the choir under the baton of Sue Hughes.
Mrs Hughes has certainly worked wonders with this choir and the resulting sound
was most impressive. The solo soprano parts were sung beautifully by Rachel
Anderson, who has studied singing under Sue Hughes. Rachel is certainly a
young lady to watch out for! The accompaniment was competently handled by
Hilary Taylor (cello), Mark Evans (oboe) and Tom Little (organ).
After a
short break, the second half of the concert began with an arrangement of
Offenbach's inspired Barcarolle - sung as a duet. Once again, this was
beautifully sung by Olivia Lewis (soprano) and Olympia Hetherington
(mezzo-soprano). This was certainly a memorable and enjoyable part of this
concert
The final work was the little-known Introduction & Gloria in D
major, (RV 639/588) by Antonio Vivaldi. This is a wonderful piece which was
sung with gusto and delicacy by the choir. The sometimeschallenging solo
pieces were sung with great commitment and feeling by the two young lady soloists.
This wonderful evening concluded with a lovely social
occasion at the Society's traditional buffet, provided by members of the choir.
I thoroughly enjoyed this concert – thank you South Nutfield Choral Society!
5th December 2015
South Nutfield
held a most successful concert at Christ Church, South Nutfield, on Saturday 5th
December. The Church was full with an audience of over 80 people who
seemed most enthusiastic about the concert when everyone gathered in the Church
hall later in the evening to enjoy drinks and a light buffet.
The music was an
unusual but exciting mixture starting with the Bob Chilcott’s well loved ‘A
Little Jazz Mass’. This work was accompanied by pianist, Gareth
Hemmings, electric double bass player, Helen Rowlands, and drummer, Tom
Hughes. Our Tenor soloist, David Brown gave a lovely performance of Holy
Boy by John Ireland, followed by jazz pianist Gareth Hemmings playing ‘A
Christmas Medley’ – an amusing mixture of well-known Christmas tunes.
The second work to
be performed by the choir was the popular ‘Gloria’ by Francis Poulenc and this was accompanied by organist,
John Sharples. The soprano solos were beautifully sung by Margaret
Pearman.
During the short
break Colin Vine gave a brief talk about the charity CHECK which carries out
wonderful work in schools and at a hospital in Kimilili
in Kenya. The money raised for CHECK at this concert, totalled £127.44
which was most pleasing.
The concert
resumed with two solo Items by Katy Anderson who attends St Bede’s
School. She sang two works beautifully and was accompanied by musical
director Sue Hughes, and percussionists John Rockliffe & Nigel
Shipway. The first piece was ‘When Christmas Comes to Town (from The
Polar Express, 2004) and she was joined by her mother Angela to sing Eric
Boswell’s Little Donkey.
The choir finished
the concert performing a wonderful work by Argentinian composer Ariel Ramirez. The work,’ Navidad Nuestra’ tells the nativity
story in a colourful, rhythmical and lively manner and required the choir to
learn Argentinian Spanish. In addition to the double bass player and
pianist, the choir was joined by percussionists John Rockliffe & Nigel
Shipway, accordion player Serguei Pachnine and Tom Hughes on acoustic
guitar. David Brown sang the solo tenor part and was joined for some parts by
choir members Russell Braund and Peter Davies. This proved a rousing way to
conclude this wonderful concert and the choir clearly enjoyed singing this
unusual work.
This was an
ambitious concert and credit must go to Sue Hughes who worked extremely hard on
coordinating the concert, finding the different musicians and ensuring that the
choir had the confidence to perform such a varied programme.
16th May 2015
South Nutfield
Choral Society staged their Summer Concert last Saturday and it is no
exaggeration to say that it was a triumph. It was clear that a lot of
hard work had been put in, under the capable direction of Sue Hughes, the
Society's relatively new Musical Director. Indeed, I have rarely heard
the choir perform better: the voices blended together well, everyone was
exactly on the beat and their diction was superb.
The opening piece, Handel's Chandos Anthem "O Praise the
Lord with one Consent" was sung with gusto, as were various other
choral pieces of English origin. However, the best item in my view was Vaughan Williams' Benedicite, a
difficult piece which was sung with great commitment and precision. The
soprano solos were sung by Heather Caddick, who really came into her own in the
Vaughan Willliams. Piano and organ accompaniment were ably provided by
Andrew Cantrill, a long term friend of the Society, who also played selections
from Richard III by William Walton.
Various works were
sung by a small ensemble including Angela Anderson, Ekaterina Barkova, Jenny
Maddox, Brenda Nash, Ali Thornton, Russell Braund and Pete Davies.
Particularly moving was a quartet's rendering of Byrd's Ave Verum Corpus.
As well as the
choral works we were treated to Maria Greenhalgh playing Fields of Gold by
Sting on the Northumbrian Pipes and some lively works by Cecilia McDowall
for flute and piano played by Richard Guise accompanied by Sylvia Ford.
This was an
ambitious concert staged by a choir which is well loved in South Nutfield and
beyond and I feel certain that they will continue to go from strength to
strength.
29th November 2014
The
concert given by The South Nutfield Choral Society on Saturday Nov. 29th,
to a large audience at Christ Church South Nutfield, comprised Charpentier's Messe de Minuit Pour Noël
and Vivaldi's Gloria in D.
The
former started off at a confident and lively pace under the skilful guidance of
Sue Hughes - the choir's new Musical Director - who has had a lifetime's
involvement in choral music as a singer, accompanist and conductor. The organ
accompaniment was ably played by Ian le Grice and the soprano solos beautifully
performed, with style and elegance, by Nicola Corbishley while the other solo
parts were sung most competently by choir members Ekaterina Barkova,
Alison Thornton, Russell Braund and Peter Davies. The choir's singing of
the choruses was rhythmic, well-balanced and with clear diction.
Nicola
Corbishley and Judy Brown (mezzo soprano) continued the programme with 3
delightful French songs - sensitively accompanied by Ian le Grice and Sue
Hughes on the piano - including the famous Flower Duet from Delibes' Lakmé -
which was truly moving.
After
the interval there was an excellent performance of Vivaldi's well-known Gloria
in D with Francis Dickinson (a member of Redhill Sinfonia) playing the violin
obbligato to accompany the soprano solo, 'Domine Deus'. The duet, Laudamus
te, was beautifully sung by Nicola Corbishley and Jenny Maddox (choir soprano),
and Judy Brown delivered the alto solos with great expression and
delicacy. The piece danced along seamlessly leaving one feeling
happy and exhilarated.
I thoroughly enjoyed
the whole evening's music and feel sure that South Nutfield Choral Society has an
exciting future ahead under the sympathetic leadership of Sue Hughes.
30th November 2013
South Nutfield
Choral Society's Autumn concert took place in front of a large audience in
Christ Church, South Nutfield.
Two works were
performed: the motet "Jesu
Priceless Treasure" (“Jesu Meine Freude”) by J S Bach and the much
loved "Requiem" by Gabriel
Fauré. The concert was conducted by Christopher Pratt and
accompanied on the organ by Andrew Cantrill.
The Bach motet in
eleven sections is one of his most demanding works and the choir gave a
performance that clearly represented a huge amount of work by an amateur group.
There were some occasions when insecurity showed but these did not detract from
providing an enjoyable performance which demonstrated great musical commitment
and enthusiasm - particularly in
those sections
which were variations on the Lutheran Chorale "Jesu Meine Freude". A
particularly impressive section occurred when the two soprano parts duetted
over a "walking bass" sung by the choir gentlemen while a semichorus
of altos and basses sang the chorale melody. Here was some exquisite, sensitive
singing!
In the Fauré
Requiem the choir excelled itself. It was joined by soloists Leah Perona-Wright
(soprano) and Jamie Cordell (baritone) who both gave moving performances.
Jamie demonstrated beautiful phrasing and a gentle but plangent tone particularly
in the iconic "Libera Me Domine". Leah's high, clear
un-operatic tone was ideally suited to the famous "Pie Jesu"
and she also treated the audience to the famous arrangement by Gounod of Bach's
1st keyboard prelude set to the wonderful "Ave Maria" text.
The choir
responded with a performance of outstanding sensitivity. Its diction was
uncluttered and precise. It's dynamic range and attack were superb - on
occasions almost frightening! The sopranos truly became a "chorus
angelorum" and the hushed audience appreciation as the work finished
was palpable. Andrew Cantrill achieved a remarkable range of tone
colour on the organ and supported the choir superbly
Audience reaction
indicated that this was a concert to remember and of which the choir and its
conductor can be truly proud.
11th May 2013
The main piece was
Flanders & Horovitz' "Captain
Noah and His Floating Zoo", a light-hearted, syncopated take on the
story of Noah's Ark, in which the Choir and some 'home-grown' soloists (notably
Peter Davies as God and Nick Case-Green as Noah) excelled themselves under the
enthusiastic direction of conductor Christopher Pratt. The Choir's
diction and, for want of a better word, 'togetherness', were all that we have
come to expect from this Society. The Choir were energetically
accompanied by Philippa Winstanley (piano), Conor Dunlea (bass guitar) and
Bradley Wool (drums).
Following this, we were treated to some familiar choruses by Gilbert & Sullivan and a
selection of 'standards' by such as Cole
Porter and George Gershwin. In particular the latter included
Let's Do It and Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, with a moving solo by Brenda Nash.
All of these were sung with great enthusiasm and conviction by the Choir.
In addition, the choral works were interspersed with some pieces for
flute and piano, excellently played by Richard Guise and Sylvia Ford, and some
enthralling music for Irish Pipes by Maria Greenhalgh. All in all,
another most entertaining evening by South Nutfield's well-loved Choir.
8th December 2012
South
Nutfield Choral Society performed Mendelssohn's
Elijah on Saturday, 8th December, to a packed audience in Christ Church,
South Nutfield. The choir performed this epic work under the capable direction
of Christopher Pratt and it was clear that the long hours of rehearsal had paid
off. The choir responded well to the conductor and the 'cut-offs' at the end of
each section were absolutely together - one of the marks of a good choir. The
dynamics, diction and phrasing could not be faulted.
The "Angels' Chorus" (often sung by soloists but on this occasion,
admirably, by all the sopranos and altos) and the full choruses "Be not
afraid" and "He that shall endure", together with the soloists'
quartet towards the end of the work, were especially memorable.
The solo parts were performed by Michael Hickman (Bass), Libby Egwuba
(Soprano), Felicity
Smith
(Mezzo Soprano) and David Brown (Tenor). The work demands a huge amount from
"Elijah" and Michael Hickman sang the role with wonderful power and
great dramatic conviction. He is, in my view, a young man destined to go far.
The other soloists supported the dramatic narrative with great musical
sensitivity. One must here mention David Brown's magical rendition of the short
passage describing an exhausted Elijah sleeping "under a juniper tree in
the wilderness".
The
organ accompaniment was brilliantly played by Andrew Cantrill, proving that
such a work can be performed without the traditional full orchestra. It was, all in all, a memorable concert, and all credit must go to Christopher
Pratt and his forces.